OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
On the anniversary of the burning of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli extremist minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced his request to establish a Jewish synagogue within the Mosque’s compound, claiming it is necessary to balance the rights of Muslims and Jews in the holy site.
The danger of Ben Gvir’s statement lies in its timing amidst an ongoing bloody conflict in Palestine, now in its eleventh month, with a complete absence of Arab and Islamic support for the Palestinian cause. This raises questions about what actions the governments of these countries and their elites could take to respond to such a serious proposal.
Al-Azhar urges Islamic governments to take action
The Cairo-based Al-Azhar sharply condemned the statements, describing them as “extremist and provocative” and coming from a “radical Zionist” official supporting the establishment of a Jewish synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Al-Azhar emphasized that such incitement can only come from an extremist mindset that does not respect other religions, holy sites, or international laws and agreements, recognizing only the law of the jungle, savagery, and crime.
It reminded the world that the Al-Aqsa Mosque has always been, and will remain, purely Islamic in all its courtyards and grounds—a historical right for Muslims. It is the first of the two Qiblas (directions of prayer) and the third holiest site in Islam, and it will remain so despite the Zionists’ criminal plans to Judaize its historical landmarks and the city of Jerusalem.
Al-Azhar called on Islamic governments to take serious and firm positions against these irresponsible and repeated statements by this Zionist figure and other extremists who habitually storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque, incite violence, and commit terrorism against innocent Palestinians. It urged them to put an end to such criminal statements and terrorist practices by officials of this extremist occupying entity.
Hamas calls for mobilization
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, declared that the “Judaization and control over Al-Aqsa” is the goal of Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist government. The Movement stated that the recent revelation by Ben Gvir about his intention to build a Jewish synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque represents a dangerous declaration reflecting the true intentions of the Israeli government towards Al-Aqsa and its Arab and Islamic identity, and its criminal steps aimed at Judaizing it and asserting control over it.
In a press statement, Hamas stressed that “the unprecedented crimes committed by the fascist occupation in the Gaza Strip, its widespread violations in the West Bank, and the actions of its extremist ministers to implement their malicious plans in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including desecrating, storming, and conducting provocative tours on a daily basis, only add more fuel to the fire, and will only be met by more resistance from our people to protect our holy sites.”
The Movement called on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the occupied territories to rise up and gather in Al-Aqsa, to defend it and resist the occupation’s plans. It also called on the valiant resistance and the rebellious youth in the occupied West Bank to escalate their confrontations with the criminal enemy and its settler gangs.
Hamas added that the Arab and Islamic nations—governments, peoples, and organizations, particularly the Organization of Islamic Cooperation—are called upon today to fulfill their responsibilities, take a firm stand against the occupation’s plans, its blatant attacks on the first of the two Qiblas and the third of the holy sites, and work by all means to stop this brutal aggression on the Palestinian people and to protect our Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, Imam and preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, stated that Ben Gvir’s claims of a Jewish right to Al-Aqsa are baseless, asserting that Ben Gvir has failed in his schemes and is now attempting to provoke the situation to show he is taking action.
In a statement to Al Jazeera, Sheikh Sabri held the government to which Ben Gvir belongs accountable for his statements, emphasizing Al-Aqsa’s Islamic identity and warning against any attempts to approach it.
Imposing new realities
Researcher and Jerusalem affairs specialist Fakhri Abu Diab believes Ben Gvir’s statements aim to impose new realities of Judaization on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which could lead to a significant escalation.
Speaking to Al-Quds TV, Abu Diab noted that Ben Gvir, supported by so-called Temple groups and synagogue organizations, is testing reactions on the Jerusalemite, Palestinian, and broader regional level. He expects Ben Gvir to attempt to achieve his goals soon, knowing that he may not have another chance if he is not part of the next Israeli government. He called on the Palestinian people to mobilize to Al-Aqsa and maintain a presence to protect it.
A brazen challenge
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that Ben Gvir’s statements about Al-Aqsa Mosque represent a brazen challenge to all values and to all Arab and Islamic governments and peoples.
Barghouti told the SANA news agency that Netanyahu’s silence on these statements and his failure to dismiss Ben Gvir confirms that the Judaization plans targeting Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem are official Israeli government policies.
Incitement and terrorism
In a joint statement, the Council of Islamic Endowments, the Supreme Islamic Council, the Palestinian Fatwa House, the Office of the Chief Justice, and the Jerusalem Endowment and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department condemned the “rogue actions and flagrant statements” by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir regarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including his latest ominous call to build a Jewish synagogue inside the Mosque.
The Islamic bodies in Jerusalem viewed this escalation as unprecedented incitement and terrorism in the context of a politically and religiously extremist Jewish movement aiming to occupy and Judaize the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the three holiest sites in Islam.
They held the international community, especially the official Islamic nation, responsible for the recent violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque due to the negligence and failure of Islamic countries to fulfill their duty to save and protect the first Qibla and the Prophet Muhammad’s ascension site from the increasing desecration and Judaization actions by the Israeli occupation government, which protects extremist Jewish fanatics who show no respect for the sanctity of Al-Aqsa and disregard the feelings of two billion Muslims.
The Islamic bodies and authorities in Jerusalem called on every Muslim, Christian, and free person in the world to fulfill their duty, according to their ability, to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque so it remains exclusively a mosque for Muslims, covering 144 dunums both above and below ground, as it has been since ancient times and will remain, God willing, under the exclusive management of the Jerusalem Islamic Endowments and under the guardianship of King Abdullah II of Jordan.
